NORUZ FILMS |
Founded in 1996, Noruz Films is a motion picture production company with offices in North Carolina and New York City with the main purpose of producing the films of international accalimed director Ramin Bahrani. Noruz Films has co-ventured with domestic and overseas producers, financiers and partners such as Big Beach Films (Little Miss Sunshine), Muskat Films Properties (All the Real Girls), Gigantic Pictures(Dare), Memento Films (The Class), ITVS (Independent Television Service), CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). Noruz Films aims to make truthful and engaging cinema for the global audience and marketplace. Artistic Independence is the mandate. Financial viability is a must.
Born and raised in North Carolina in 1975, American writer and director Ramin Bahrani received his BA in Film Studies from Columbia University in New York City. He made several short films including BACKGAMMON (1998) and a medium length student thesis film entitled STRANGERS (2000).
Bahrani's first feature film, MAN PUSH CART (2005), premiered at The Venice International Film Festival (2005) and later screened at The Sundance Film Festival (2006). The film won over 10 international prizes, including the FIPRESCI international critics prize in The London Film Festival (2005), before being released around the world to wide critical acclaim. The film was nominated for a Breakthrough Director Gotham Award (2006), and for three Independent Spirit Awards (2007): Best First Film, Best Lead Actor (Ahmad Razvi) and Best Cinematographer (Michael Simmonds).
Bahrani's second film, CHOP SHOP (2007), was co-written by Bahareh Azimi and produced by Lisa Muskat (George Washington) and Big Beach Films (Little Miss Sunshine) and premiered in the Director's Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival, and then screened as an official selection at both the Toronto Film Festival (2007) and the Berlin Film Festival (2008). Chop Shop was released worldwide to universal critical acclaim, winning several prizes including the Acura "Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award (2008) for Bahrani. In 2008 lead Actor Alejandro Polanco was nominated for a Gotham Breakthrough Acting Award, and Bahrani key collaborator, Michael Simmonds, was again nominated for Best Cinematographer at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards, where Bahrani was also nominated as Best Director. Chop Shop was on countless top 10 lists for 2008, including critic Roger Ebert's, who hailed it as a "Masterpiece!"
In 2008 Bahrani premiered his third feature film, GOODBYE SOLO, as an official selection of the Venice Film Festival and won the prestigious FIPRESCI international critics prize for Best Film. The film's North American premiere was at the Toronto Film Festival and producer Jason Orans received an Independent Spirit Award nomination (2009) as "A Producer to Watch." Goodbye Solo will be released theatrically in the United States by Roadside Attractions in the spring of 2009 and globally shortly thereafter. Lion's Gate Films will handle the U.S. DVD release.
Bahrani will be the subject of several prestigious international retrospectives in 2009 including the MoMA in New York City, Harvard University, and the La Rochelle Film Festival in France.